1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a band clamp for arranging a wire harness to a vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
A band clamp is used as means for arranging a wire harness that has bundled up a plurality of wires to a vehicle body. For examples, for the purpose of bundling up a plurality of wires wired within an interior of a vehicle body and arranging them to an inner wall surface of the vehicle body as an attachment member, band clamps having various configurations are widely used for the reason that they are easy of handling.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, in a band clamp 1 which is now on file, a plurality of wires are bundled up by winding a band 2 around them (not illustrated) and a forward end 2a of the band 2 is inserted into a band lock 2b. Further, a wire harness bundled up a plurality of wires is arranged to an inner wall surface of a vehicle body by inserting an engaging twin-blade type clamp 3a provided on a clamp 3 into a prescribed hole (not illustrated) equipped in the wall surface.
Also, as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, in a band clamp which is now on file, a plurality of wires are bundled up by winding a band 6 around them (not illustrated) and a forward end 6a of the band 6 is inserted into a band lock 6b. Further, a wire harness bundled up a plurality of wires is arranged to an inner wall surface of a vehicle body by engaging a screw thread mount engagement portion 7a provided on a clamp 7 with a screw thread mount (not illustrated) equipped with a bolt projected from the wall surface.
This band clamp is easy of handling and is capable of being mass-produced through the use of injection molding. However, it is necessary to prepare a band clamp having particular configuration for each automobile type or automobile manufacturer according to the conditions to arrange a wire harness to an attachment member, and therefore one band clamp can not flexibly be applied to a plurality of automobile types or automobile manufactures. Further, since it is necessary to manufacture a band clamp die having particular configuration for each automobile type or automobile manufacturer, the cost to manufacture the band clamp is increased in proportion to the number of automobile types or automobile manufactures.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a band clamp which can flexibly be applied to the conditions of various vehicle bodies and it is another object of the present invention to realize that the cost to manufacture the band clamp is reduced.
To achieve the above objects, there is provided a band clamp comprising: a band for bundling up a wire harness; a clamp engage with an attachment portion of a vehicle body; a common-use fixing portion provided on the clamp; and a common-use plug portion provided on the band and fitted into the common-use fixing portion, wherein the band and the clamp are separately prepared for flexibly arranging the wire harness to the vehicle body, whereby a plurality of clamp types can be prepared to flexibly conform to the conditions of various vehicle bodies.
According to the present invention, the band and the clamps are separately prepared and one clamp is freely selected from among a plurality of clamps so as to conform to the condition of the vehicle body. Therefore, from among a plurality of clamps satisfying the requirements fore each vehicle type and automobile manufacturer, one clamp complying with the suitable condition can be selected and this selected clamp is combined with the band, thereby the desired band clamp can be obtained.
Especially, even in a case where it is needed to use the band clamp having a clamp whose configuration is in compliance with the new requirements for new type of automobile, by making the use of the band common, the band clamp can flexibly be applied to the conditions of some vehicle bodies by newly preparing only clamp dies. Therefore, the cost to manufacture the band clamp is reduced.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a band clamp further comprising a clamp portion provided on the clamp and fitted into the attachment portion of the vehicle body; wherein the attachment portion is a fitting hole.
According to the embodiment, in a case where the band clamp is engaged with the fitting hole that has various hole diameters and configurations, the band clamp needs only to replace the clamp with a clamp having the clamp portion corresponding to the fitting hole without exchanging the band satisfying the conditions for bundling up the wire harness.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a band clamp further comprising a clamp portion provided on the clamp and screwed on the attachment portion of the vehicle body; wherein the attachment portion is a stud bolt that projects from the vehicle body.
According to the embodiment, in a case where engaging the band clamp with the screw thread mount portion having various mount diameters, the band clamp needs only to replace the clamp with a clamp having the clamp portion corresponding to the screw thread mount portion without exchanging the band satisfying the conditions for bundling up the wire harness.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the common-use fixing portion is provided at a position remote from the center axis of the clamp portion of the clamp.
According to the embodiment, in a case where it is difficult to equip the attachment portion with which the band clamp is engaged at the just position where the wire harness is to be arranged for the structural reason of the vehicle body, by providing the common-use fixing portion at a position remote from the center axis of the clamp, the band clamp needs only to replace the clamp with a clamp having provided the common-use fixing portion at the position remote from the center axis of the clamp without exchanging the band satisfying the conditions for bundling up the wire harness.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the common-use plug portion has a rail-shaped convex portion that is substantially T-shaped in the cross section and the common-use fixing portion has a rail-shaped concave portion that is substantially C-shaped in the cross section.
According to the embodiment, by the rail-shaped convex portion of the common-use plug portion that is substantially T-shaped in the cross-section, being plugged into the rail-shaped concave portion of the common-use fixing portion that is substantially C-shaped in the cross section, the common-use plug portion and the common-use fixing portion are interfitted with each other, thereby the band and the clamp are connected together. Therefore, since there is no need to use a new tool (e.g., a screw) for connecting the common-use plug portion and the common-use fixing portion, the cost to manufacture the band clamp is reduced.